This is a meme with a quote from Pope Francis' exhortation, "Gaudete et Exsultate" ("Rejoice and Be Glad"), on the "call to holiness in today's world." In the photo, Pope Francis confesses in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 4. CNS meme/Cindy Wooden, photo/Max Rossi, Reuters

When you enter the Great Upper Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, as the clergy and faithful of the Diocese are invited to do on pilgrimage every three years, your attention is immediately focused upon the mosaic of “Christ in Majesty” that adorns the apse behind and above the high altar. If you turn around to look back at the narthex, you will see a white bas relief that stretches from side to side across the back of the Shrine.More ...Monday, April 9, 2018

In his newly released apostolic exhortation , “Gaudete et Exultate” (“Rejoice and Be Glad), Pope Francis had direct words to all the faithful on how they are called to live lives of holiness.More ...Monday, April 9, 2018

VATICAN CITY -- Here is a selection of quotations from "Gaudete et Exsultate" ("Rejoice and Be Glad"), Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation on holiness:

-- "I like to contemplate the holiness present in the patience of God's people: in those parents who raise their children with immense love, in those men and women who work hard to support their families, in the sick, in elderly religious who never lose their smile."

-- "Holiness is the most attractive face of the Church."More ...Monday, April 9, 2018

WASHINGTON -- Words of support and praise for Pope Francis' new apostolic exhortation were expressed shortly after its April 9 release by U.S. bishops including Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M., and Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

VATICAN CITY -- God calls all Christians to be saints -- not plastic statues of saints, but real people who make time for prayer and who show loving care for others in the simplest gestures, Pope Francis said in his new document on holiness.More ...Monday, April 9, 2018

VATICAN CITY -- "Rejoice and Be Glad," Pope Francis' new apostolic exhortation on "the call to holiness in the modern world," will be released April 9, the Vatican announced.More ...Thursday, April 5, 2018